Book Review- ‘Reclaim your heart’, by Yasmin Mogahed

It is said that you should never judge a book by its cover, but I have found a book which is as beautiful on the outside as it is on the inside. The yellow autumn leaves and the sun shining through reminding us that through the changes of life, through happiness, grief, loss and even in death, there is hope shining through, that hope is the connection to the One Creator, that hope is undeniable and for me this book echoes this above anything else.

What was deceiving however, was the fact that it looks like a book that you can read very quickly. A thin book of 168 pages shouldn’t take that long to read, this was my initial thoughts. Yet I was wrong in this regard, because the topics of discussion and the way in which it is discussed is so intense that it requires reflection and contemplation, thus taking me much longer to finish the book.

The book in a way promises the reader a journey of enlightenment, where the heart will be set free from the shackles of life, and it has indeed kept its promise. The only thing left to do is to implement the wonderful principles mentioned here in.

I particularly enjoyed the style of writing. It’s the type of writing that does not confuse the reader, nor do the words get lost. Instead, it’s written in a straightforward and conversational manner, easy for anyone to grasp. It begins with discussing the attachments or rather false attachments that we so easily form and it tells you how to go about forming a real and everlasting attachment with Allah (exalted is He). Similarly, the reality of issues such as Love or Hardships or even our relationship with the Creator is discussed in a manner which allows the reader to reflect on what the reality is, as opposed to all the false illusion in our lives. The book ends off beautifully with poetry, but it is not just any poetry, it is poetry which speaks of true connection to the Lord, connection as a spiritual being, and this in itself is extremely moving.

The words in this book are not meagre words, they are words that have the ability to elicit tears, tears which come from knowing and recognizing the truth and then attempting to find this truth within yourself. Each time I picked up this book to read, I looked forward to crying as much as I did to reading, because the words, coupled with tears led to some sort of real understanding of my true purpose as a human being in this temporary world.

As humans we have many questions, and I believe that this book provides the answers to most of those questions. If you are not willing to face the truth though, and if you are reluctant to introspect and work through the illusion in your own life, then this book will not be of benefit to you.

I commend Yasmin Mogahed for writing a book which is a real treasure. In the book she urges people to ‘Reclaim their hearts’, to move it away from everything that is false and direct it towards that which is real. This book is an eye opener and a reminder at the same time, and it speaks more to the heart than anything else. It’s taken me a while to read, but I hope that this means I have been able to implement these lessons in my life, and moreover, I hope that I can continue to work on reclaiming my heart, because one day I will have to return ‘home’ to a place better than this earth as Sister Yasmin reminds us, and I truly wish that my return home will be a joyous one, In sha Allah! 

IMAGE FROM HERE 

To read more from Yasmin Mogahed's check out her website:

http://www.yasminmogahed.com/